Bridgeboard Tips and Utilities

Here are a few programs and utilities that will make life using your Bridgeboard a bit easier.

Name	aminet Link	Decription
EmuNet	/driver/net/EmuNet09b.lha	EmuNet is a SANA-II compatible network device driver which enables the Amiga to access PC/ISA network cards directly.
Etherbridge	driver/net/etherbridge.lha	Etherbridge is another SANA-II network device driver that enables the Amiga to access PC/ISA network cards directly.
PS2 Fix	/docs/hard/A2386_PS2_V1.3.lha	This project describes how to make an adapter to use SIMMs with the A2386SX Bridgeboard.
A2386SX 16MB Modification Guide	/docs/hard/A2386_16MB.lha	This guide describes how to modify an A2386SX Bridgeboard to use 16MB SIMMs onboard (also see above).
Connect	/comm/misc/connect35.lha	If you have an extra Amiga serial port, this program will let you share a device connected to one of the Amiga's port with any other computer that has serial port (which could be used to share a modem between the Bridgeboard and Amiga).
AmiCDex	/misc/emu/AmiCDEx22.lha	This program will let you use a CD-Rom drive that is connected to your Amiga on your Bridgeboard. Also has support for the Vortex/GoldenGate Bridgeboards.
Bridgeboard CPU Upgrade Guide	/misc/emu/BBCpuUpgrde1.0.lha	This contains information about upgrading an A2386SX Bridgeboard with various 486 clip-on modules.
BBcpuclk	(misc/emu/BBcpuclk1.0.lha):	some of the upgrades from the Bridgeboard CPU Upgrade guide will need this PC program to run correctly.
JanusTools	/misc/emu/JanusTools.lha	This package contains two different utilities. The first one is a replacement interface for A2386SX Bridgeboards with a VGA card. It lets you access all the different features of Janus from one interface, and will even run a auto-switch box (see below). The second utility will let you use an Amiga hard drive partition as a PC hard drive. It is much faster than a hard file and easy to set up as well. This partition utility will run with any Bridgeboard, as long as you have Janus v2.1
BBSwitch	/docs/hard/BBSwitch1.0.lha	This is the hardware device that allows you to switch between the Amiga display and the PC display on the same monitor when using an A2386SX Bridgeboard. It works very well with the JanusTools package.
CDJanusTools	/docs/help/CDJanusTools.lha	This document explains how to set up the Amiga and Janus Tools PC partition to be able to access the files from the Amiga side using CrossDos.
Turbo 2088	/docs/hard/turbo2088.lzh	Project to accelerate a 2088 Bridgeboard.
MouseServ	/misc/emu/BBMouseServDoc.lha	Explains how the Bridgeboard mouse server works.
AmigaEMS	/misc/emu/AMEMS152.lha	allows you to use some of the Amiga's memory for use with the Bridgeboard (I don't believe this shareware program is still supported though - please correct me if I'm wrong).
Bridgeboard Tools for JDisks	/misc/emu/bbtools1_1.lha	Programs to transfer files between the PC and Amiga on JDisk drives, faster than using AREAD/AWRITE.
PDir	/misc/emu/PDir.lha	Another program that allows faster file transfers.
PCExecute	/misc/emu/PCExecute.lha	A little program that allows you to execute programs on a Bridgeboard without opening a PC window.
PCStatus	(misc/emu/PCStatus.lha):	Bridgeboard user's program that displays the status of the CAPS, INS, and SCROLL key in a separate window on every PC screen. Also, both the Amiga and the PC will use the same status of the Caps Lock key.
Amiga Hardfile FAQ	docs/misc/hardfile_faq.lha	Contains information on hardfiles for Bridgeboards(among others).

You can load BIOS extension ROMs like SCSI boot roms or XT-IDE by replacing or merging it with pc.boot or pc.boot.2386sx on 8KB boundries. (requires BIOS shadowing ON to work, at least for me)

If Amouse doesn’t start, try Stacks=0,0 in config.sys (It degrades stack handling to simple DOS <=3.1 method but does fix amouse)

Bios extension ROMs (on EPROM or from amiga side) can be slow. To speed up disk access significabtly, you can set up EMM386 or QEMM shadow RAM for the memory area of the ROM.

Holmes Fix (https://www.bttr-software.de/freesoft/system.htm): one of the available utilities that solves the Year 2000 rollover problem.

CalcQF (http://cd.textfiles.com/simtel/simtel20/MSDOS/SYSUTL/CALCQF.ZIP): This program will calculate the best memory refresh rate to provide the best performance for the system.

Amiga Hardware and Overclocking page (http://members.iinet.net.au/~davem2/amiga.html): Contains information on how to overclock the A2386SX Bridgeboard.

Installation Tips

A few installation tips:

if installing a Bridgeboard (especially A2386SX) in an Amiga 4000T, exchange the plastic guide for the Bridgeboard's edge with one of the two guides for the non-existent Zorro slots (at the top). These are thinner and won't interfere with the protruding leads of the Bridgeboard as you install it.
if you've added an upgrade to the Bridgeboard, try to place it so it has enough ventilation to cool down. Also make sure any cards installed above the Bridgeboard won't interfere with the upgrade.
when setting up a shared floppy configuration for the A2386SX Bridgeboard, do the following:

This will shorten the overall length of the floppy cable and might solve some floppy related problems.

Other Tips

Adding an external floppy drive to the A2286 Bridgeboard Using a dual floppy drive with the Bridgeboard Using DoubleSpace on a J-Link'ed drive Adding a third ISA slot to an Amiga 3000